The Super Eagles of Nigeria are earnestly seeking qualification to the FIFA World Cup finals to be staged in Qatar later this year ahead of the Black Stars of Ghana, and former striker of the Eagles Jonathan Akpoborie has made passionate appeal to the technical handlers of the team, Augustine Eguavoen and Emmanuel Amuneke to make use of some two players, who he believes can make qualification easy for the Super Eagles.
Nigeria will visit Ghana for the first leg fixture of the last playoffs against Ghana on March 24 at the Cape Coast sports stadium before the reverse encounter takes place three days later in Abuja.
Jonathan Akpoborie, a member of the Nigeria squad that won bronze and silver at the 1992 and 2000 Africa Cup of Nations respectively, has urged Eguavoen and Amuneke to start Napoli forward Victor Osimhen and Watford’s Emmanuel Dennis upfront when Nigeria comes face off against Ghana in the 2022 FIFA World Cup playoff next month.
Both Ghana and Nigeria suffered early exit at the 2021 AFCON in Cameroon, looking a pale shadows of themselves. As the two sides battle each other for a ticket to Qatar, Jonathan Akpoborie believes that goal scoring will be no problem for Nigeria should Osimhen and Dennis be paired to the lead the attack for Nigeria.
“No doubt, we missed the services of Victor Osimehen and Emmanuel Dennis at the just concluded 2021 Africa Cup of Nations [AFCON] in Cameroon. One thing I love about them is the fact that they are determined and always hungry for goals”, Akpoborie admitted, speaking to Nigeria’s sports news outlet Complete Sports, as quoted by dailypost.
“It will be a delight to see the two players team up against the Black Stars of Ghana in the 2022 FIFA World Cup playoff. I am very optimistic that goals will flow and the Super Eagles will qualify ahead of their West African rival”, he added.
For the records, Napoli’s Osimhen missed out on the 2021 AFCON for health reasons, while Watford refused to release Emmanuel Dennis for the tournament.
Jonathan Akpoborie played for the Super Eagles of Nigeria between 1992 and 2001, scoring 4 goals in 13 appearances.
